Ethnograpliical collections from East Greenland. 707 



ortoq. From this place it cannot have been difficult to escape across the moun- 

 tain, where the road to Igaliko in the innermost corner of Einarsfjord is still 

 to be seen. Here lay the old bishop's palace Garôar, administered by Evarr 

 Bârùarson from 1342 to 1368 (the last bishop living in Greenland was Alfr who 

 was appointed bishop in 1368 and died in 1378). Oongortoq took up his abode 

 with one of his countrymen, a certain Olåjr (in the Eskimo tales called Olawe, 

 Olawik, Olatvaaq). His next place of refuge was the interior of AbLuitsoq fjord, 

 namely, its southern arm, which is identical with the Icelandic Siglufjördr. On 

 the whole way across the interior between this place and the fjord further north, 

 where Oongortoq came from, there have been many Icelandic farms, as is proved 

 by the ruins; one, for example, lies near Sioralik, where the Eskimo relate that 

 he settled down; the name means 'the sandy place', but further up in the land 

 occur extensive pastures and several rivers meet at the beach. Two groups of 

 the ruins at Sioralik are surrounded by two heavy, well-built stone-walls of a 

 man's height, 4 feet thick, the outer and inner sides of which are carefully built 

 up of the larger stones, while smaller ones are used for filling up the intervals^). 

 These walls may have been made as pens for the cattle, but are more like ram- 

 parts. According to the tale Kaissape followed Oongortoq and settled down 

 near "the mouth of the river"; this may probably mean the large river near 

 Aniitsuarsik, the northern arm of Siglufjord with South Greenland's largest water- 

 fall^), but may also possibly be understood simply as the mouth of the fjord. 

 We may take it for granted, that during the decline of the Norsemen most of 

 the other farms in this fjord had either been deserted (the inhabitants killed 

 or driven away by the Eskimo) or eskimoized. Oongortoq would therefore have 

 been isolated in the inner part of Siglufjord and pressed by his pursuers has 

 been obliged to flee towards the south, where by following the innermost ways 

 behind the fjord-heads he reached the large and beautiful fjord Tasermiut, named 

 Ketilsjjord by the Norsemen. Here lie nine large groups of ruins, the most im- 

 portant one furthest up in the fjord^). Right opposite on the other beach lie 

 some ruins, supposed to have been the monastery dedicated to Sanct Olaf and 

 St. Augustinus at Tasermiutsiaq"^). In this fjord some of the last champions of 

 the Norsemen have possibly been able to hold out long after the power of their 

 countrymen was broken. If Oongortoq has really been the last, independent 

 upholder of the Icelandic culture in Greenland, it is not to be wondered at, that 

 when threatened by some few Eskimo enemies and without support from other 

 sides he has been obliged to seek to the other fjords further towards the south 

 or east, either through Öllumlengri (the Eskimo Iherasarsuaq) to Aluh or across 

 the ice-filled passes in the inner Tasermiut to the largest fjord on the southern 

 east coast, namely. Ranger LLussuätsiaq, where there is a single ruin from the 

 time of the Norsemen (see p. 671). Kaissape is said to have pursued him even 

 over there, killed first his wife and afterwards Oongortoq with an arrow over 

 which a spell had been read and lastly his small defenceless child. 



There is reason to rely more upon the locahsation in South Greenland of 

 this coherent report of indubitable historic events than upon that of the rather 

 legendary tales, by which the Eskimo otherwise preserve the memory of certain 

 national "heroes" (Qaasuk, Kaasassuk etc.) and their deeds, for these are told 

 by each Eskimo tribe round the Davis Straits and are localized at a new place 

 in the district of each tribe. But Oongortoq's name and deed are only remem- 



1) Frode Petersen (1896) pp. 411— 412 (fig. 90). 



2) Idem ibid. p. 417. ' 



3) Holm (1894) p. 135. 



*) F. Jonsson (1899) p. 305. 



45* 



